RALEIGH — College students and administrators don’t know that the First Amendment protects religious liberty, according to survey results published in a report by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.
The Center for Survey Research and Analysis at the University of Connecticut conducted surveys for FIRE between December 2002 and April 2003. The surveys involved 1,037 students representing 339 colleges and universities (margin of error is +/- 2.8 percent) and 306 administrators from 306 colleges and universities (margin of error is +/-5.6 percent).
Among the survey’s findings were that, when asked to name a freedom protected by the First Amendment, little more than one-fifth (21 percent) of administrators and less than one-third (30 percent) of students named religion. When asked to name which freedom the First Amendment mentioned first, only 6 percent of administrators and just 2 percent of students correctly answered the freedom of religion.
Even knowing about the First Amendment protection of this right, only 74 percent of students and 87 percent of administrators stated that it is “essential” that students on their campus have this right. Concerning the free exercise of religion (and speech, also), a majority (55 percent) of students would allow religious individuals to spread their religious beliefs only if they did not give offense in doing so, while just 32 percent favored allowing students to spread their religious beliefs by whatever legal means they choose. Administrators were evenly divided, with 41 percent favoring not giving offense and 41 percent favoring whatever legal means chosen.
Surprisingly, even though the free exercise of religion is the first protected right in the Bill of Rights, almost one-fourth (24 percent) of administrators believe they have the legal right to prohibit a student religious group from actively trying to convert students to its religion — even though half that number (12 percent) think they have the legal right to prohibit a non-religious student group from actively recruiting members.
Freedom of (voluntary) association is another First Amendment right, but administrators were found to be inconsistent in their views on its application. Less that one-fifth (19 percent) of public-college administrators knew that U.S. law (most recently upheld in the 2000 U.S. Supreme Court case of Boy Scouts of America v. Dale) permitted a religious group that believes homosexual behavior is sinful is permitted to exclude homosexuals from joining their group. Nevertheless, 34 percent of public-college administrators believed they have the right to compel students to attend diversity training or sensitivity training to value all sexual preferences regardless of their personal beliefs.
“If the American experiment in liberty is to survive, citizens must both keep alive and cherish the free exchange of ideas, values, and convictions. These survey results are disheartening, but unfortunately they are not surprising,” said FIRE president Alan Charles Kors. “Freedom of speech and freedom to worship are undergoing a frightening and powerful assault.”
Kors said he hoped the survey results would serve as wake-up call for people concerned with religious liberty on campus.
“This survey confirms what students of faith have long perceived — that their fellow students and the administrators either misunderstand or minimize the extent and importance of their First Amendment rights,” said David A. French, author of the Guide to Religious Liberty on Campus, recently published by FIRE. “It is ironic that administrators who are so eager to encourage ‘tolerance’ and ‘diversity’ know so little about the fundamental freedoms that make true diversity and tolerance possible.”
The survey is available online at TheFireGuides.org.